


Digital Breadcrumbs

by miraculousstorytelling



Series: Voltron: Legendary Fairy Tales [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, dangerous levels of sass, fluff mostly, pseudo-sibling bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-04
Updated: 2016-08-04
Packaged: 2018-07-29 05:47:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7672453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miraculousstorytelling/pseuds/miraculousstorytelling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While searching for a Galra base on the surface of an uninhabited planet, Keith and Pidge find themselves lost in the woods.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Digital Breadcrumbs

"Any idea how close we are?" Keith asked, glancing over his shoulder once more.

Pidge examined the device in her hands, "It's close. But..." she frowned, striking the side with the heel of her hand, "The tracker's acting up for some reason."

He frowned, "Something feels off."

She looked over at him, expression grim, "Yeah, I think you're right."

Keith's bayard flashed, and in an instant, he was holding a sword and shield. He scanned the forest and brought up the communications link, "Everyone else okay?" He was greeted only by brief pops of static, and his stomach twisted.

Pidge tried her link, "Lance? Shiro?" After a moment of silence, she shook her head, looking concerned.

"We need to get back to our lions," Keith declared, already headed off to do just that.

"Keith, wait." She frowned, "That's the wrong way."

"What are you talking about?" he asked, genuinely confused.

"Look, while we were walking, I was trying to get a better read on the base. We didn't exactly follow a linear path to get here."

He snorted, "Yeah, I noticed. But, I don't need a map to tell me Red is that way." He pointed ahead.

She frowned, glancing down at the screen in front of her, "No, that doesn't make sense. I left a trail so we could find our way back, and it's saying we should go that way." She indicated to the right.

"A trail?" He raised a brow.

"Yeah, like the digital equivalent of breadcrumbs."

He grimaced, "Let's not bring up breadcrumbs when we're lost in the woods. Last thing we need is a witch in a gingerbread house."

Pidge scoffed, "A gingerbread house wouldn't even be structurally sound enough to live in."

Keith couldn't help but smirk a little, "That's what I always said."

She brightened, "Yeah, my mom would always say it's just a fairy tale, but come on, even kid's stories can be logical."

He chuckled, "Couldn't agree more."

She examined the device in her hand, "It's definitely saying to go right."

Keith turned to face her, sighing, "Okay, but what _feels_ like the right direction? You've bonded with Green. Where's your lion?"

She frowned and held up the small digital guide, pointing to a small green square, "Right here."

"Our comms stopped working. How do we know that isn't out of action, too?" he explained patiently. It was easier for him to be patient with Pidge.

She considered that a moment, then she closed her eyes and concentrated. Both of them could feel that distant rumble of their lions' purr on the edges of their awareness. After taking a second to tune into it, she nodded, pointing behind him, "That way."

He smiled, "Let's go, then."

They began to walk forward, still wary of their surroundings. Pidge tucked the tracker in the pouch she'd slung over her armor, clutching her bayard in one hand. Everything about this forest set her teeth on edge in a way she couldn't explain. Keith grabbed her arm a second before the ground shook and their surroundings shifted in a dizzying burst of green.

"Pidge..." Keith's voice held a note of panic, "I can't feel my lion."

Pidge felt her stomach drop. "Me neither," she whispered, chest tight.

Their comm links produced nothing but static, and both were simply trying to fight the rising tide of sheer panic that threatened to overwhelm them. The forest looked the same, but something was undoubtedly different. Everything seemed darker, and the air felt heavier.

Keith glanced over at her, "Still have those breadcrumbs?"

She nodded and pulled out the device.

"Then, lead on, Gretel."

She snorted, "With your hair, _you_ should be Gretel."

He chuckled, "You're taking a page from Lance's book now?"

She half-smiled, teasing a bit, "When in doubt, diss the mullet."

"Why don't you talk to me when you can _reach_ my mullet, shrimp," he shot back dismissively.

She frowned and reached up to yank on his hair. He shouted in pain, and she smirked, "Hey, look! I can reach it just fine!"

"Hey, that's attached!" He griped, rubbing his sore scalp.

She rolled her eyes, "You'll survive. Trust me, I've done worse to my brother. Broke his nose once when he called me Katie-cat."

He couldn't help but smile a little at the image, "Growing up with you must have been brutal."

"Oh, please!" She protested, "I was just defending myself!" She finally glanced down at the screen of their guide and her brows furrowed, "What?"

He peered over her shoulder, frowning, "What is it?"

"The trail's gone."

"I knew something was wrong," he muttered. "We shouldn't have come in here."

"Look, the others have to know something's up," she reasoned, "They'll check on us soon."

"I hope so," he murmured, looking around again.

"Let's just see if we can't find a way out."

He sighed, "Yeah, all right. Which direction?"

She shrugged, "It all looks like trees to me."

Then, Keith sighed and walked forward, "Let's stay close."

She nodded and followed behind him, watching for any sign of a trap or attack.

As it turned out, they didn't have long to wait. Both stared in shock when they found a house in the middle of the forest, absolutely covered in sweets. As they approached, they saw trees with cobwebs spun out of strands of sugar. The grass was interspersed with rock candy, and the bushes in front were laden with gummy fruits. The windows were spun sugar, and the house itself was...

"Gingerbread?!" Pidge hissed, "That's not even possible!"

Keith grimaced, "We're probably hallucinating."

"That would make way more sense," she grumbled.

Icing lined the roof and doorways. The door itself seemed to be made of peanut brittle, and the steps looked like chunks of solid chocolate. Enormous peppermint sticks served as pillars, supporting the impossible structure. A sickly sweet smell wafted through the air.

Pidge groaned, "Isn't this a little overkill? I'm pretty sure the smell alone could kill us."

Keith sighed, "Yeah. You know who'd love this, though?"

"Lance," they both answered in unison, both recalling their firsthand experience with their teammate's legendary sweet tooth.

The door creaked open ominously, and the two exchanged a quick, panicked glance.

Pidge frowned, "Okay, there's no way we're going in there."

Keith nodded slowly.

After a quiet, awkward moment, Pidge glanced down at her bayard and up at the house. She approached it with a brief look of why not and shocked the house.

Keith jumped when the structure sparked and the appearance suddenly glitched and melted. They could see the expected Galra base underneath the projected sugary appearance, and Pidge beamed, "Hey, we found it!"

Voices overlapped in the comm link that was suddenly open. Both of their lions were insistently demanding to reach them, and Keith chuckled, "Nice going, Gretel."

"Keith! Are you two all right?" Allura's voice dominated the chatter briefly, "Where are you?"

Pidge tugged out the guidance system from her pouch and tapped a few keys, "Coran, can you see us?"

Coran spoke up, "Yes, you just reappeared on the map. Where have you been?"

Keith smiled a little, "We got lost in the woods. Now we're at the base."

"Can you beam the coordinates to everyone, Coran?" Pidge asked.

"It should be on your systems now," Coran answered, sending the location with a flourish.

Lance finally spoke up, "We'll be there in five minutes."

Shiro added, "We're about ten minutes out."

Allura instructed, "Stay put until we're there. Do _not_ go into the base. We don't know what sort of traps they might have set."

"We got cut off from the comms and our lions, the forest _moved around us_ , and we found a gingerbread house. I think the possibility of more traps _might_ have occurred to us," Keith responded, unable to keep a heavy dose of sarcasm out of his voice. "Besides, I think Pidge shorted it out with her bayard."

"What?! A gingerbread house?!" Lance shouted, "A real one?"

Hunk scoffed, "That's not even possible. A house made of gingerbread would collapse."

Keith and Pidge laughed as Lance grumbled about ruined childhoods.

Lance and Hunk arrived shortly, Hunk immediately pulling Keith and Pidge into a hug and celebrating the fact that they were okay. Lance and Keith were already mid-shouting match when Allura and Shiro approached. Hunk and Pidge were looking at the piece of machinery that Pidge shocked with her bayard, excitedly chatting about the possibilities of appropriating some of the camouflaging technology.

The investigation yielded some useful intel and some even more useful weapons that they took back on board. As the teams returned to their lions, Keith sent Pidge a small grin, "Hey, we make a pretty good team, short stuff."

"Yeah, you're right." Pidge smiled sweetly, "Call me short again, and I'll break your knees, hotshot."

He laughed, "Okay, Katie-cat." He shouted in pain, even though he was expecting her to use her bayard on him. He just wasn't expecting it on the side of his neck.

"You're worse than my brother," she grumbled as she stalked off.

**Author's Note:**

> A lot of people have been talking about potential sibling bonding between Keith and Pidge on tumblr, which gave me the bright idea to put them in a Hansel and Gretel type story. Honestly, this nearly turned out super angsty, but I decided I'd rather write fluff.


End file.
